


Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

by orphan_account



Series: Heronchild Fics [6]
Category: Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy - Cassandra Clare, The Last Hours Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: M/M, Parabatai, Parabatai Bond, Separated Parabatai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 13:39:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11624673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account





	Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

 

 

 

James’s stomach was alive with butterflies as he stood outside the Institute with his family, waiting for the Fairchild’s carriage to arrive. They were dressed warmly, a chill present in the foggy London air. You couldn’t tell by looking at him though, the trained Shadowhunter he was. His parabatai and best friend, Matthew, had been abruptly torn away from him to Idris for the past three months. His mother was the Consul, and he ended up getting dragged everywhere. James missed him terribly, the distance causing his parabatai rune to ache constantly. Although they exchanged letters constantly, words could never amount to Matthew’s physical presence. James missed the constant pats and hair ruffles, the sparkle of his eyes and the ring in his laugh. He could feel his heart beating rapidly in anticipation.

All of the sudden, James’s parabatai rune began to tingle, causing him to gasp. It was a pleasant tingle however. Lucie grabbed his gloved hand and squeezed it with her own. His father gave him a knowing look. Not long after the tingle started, the carriage appeared out of the mist, the horse’s hooves clopping rhythmically against the cobblestones. James took a step forward, trying to gaze through the windows of the carriage. Before the carriage stopped moving, the door burst open and out tumbled a blond boy. He was tanner than James remembered, and taller too. His blond hair was longer, bleached from days in the Idris sun. It was a stark contrast to his black coat. His face looked thinner and more handsome. James could almost make out the bright green of his eyes from the top of the stairs. A few moments passed where the two boys stared at each other, frozen in place. James snapped out of it, realizing that this was his Matthew, and started to race down the stairs, almost tripping over himself. Matthew rushed to meet him at the bottom.

“Jamie,” Matthew whispered, before James collided with him, tightly wrapping his arms around his parabatai. Matthew closed his eyes, inhaling the scent on James’s coat. It smelled like the crisp air, fresh books from the institute, and the frosty ground. James squeezed his eyes tight shut, willing himself not to let a tear fall. He was sure his parabatai rune was glowing underneath his clothes. Nothing could replace the feeling of his parabatai in his arms. Matthew, unable to resist, threaded his cold fingers into James’s unruly curls. They were in desperate need of a cut, but Matthew would never suggest it. The mess made James who he was. He had missed his best friend so much. He was still pale as the snow, but he was much taller now and broad-shouldered. His face had thinned out, exposing the dramatic Herondale cheekbones. James’s arms eventually loosened, and he drew back to look his parabatai in the face.

“Never leave me again,” He whispered. His eyes were melted gold.

“Never,” Matthew agreed. The wind blew some of his hair across his eyes, and James brushed it off his face with a faint smile.

“Matthew!” Lucie called as she made her way down the stairs.

“Lucille!” Matthew gave James’s younger sister a quick hug and then kept her under his arm. “How’s Cordelia?”

“She’s great,” Lucie pointedly raised her eyebrows at James, who’s cheeks reddened quickly.

“What’s this?” Matthew grinned, a perfect white-toothed smile. James’s stomach flipped and he instantly scolded it. “Does Jamie have a girlfriend?”

“Hardly,” James scoffed.

“She likes him, but he hasn’t said anything about the topic.”

Matthew suddenly felt nauseous. The thought of James having a girlfriend made him uneasy. James looked as uncomfortable as Matthew felt, eyes trained steadily on the ground and hands shoved in his pockets.

“More importantly, how is the Blackthorn?” Matthew smiled mischievously as Lucie flushed. Luckily for her, Charlotte appeared beside Matthew. It was funny how short she looked compared to her son.

“Why don’t you come say hi to Will and Tessa?” She suggested.

“Good luck,” He chuckled, kissing Lucie on the forehead before exiting the conversation. He gave James one last concerned look before going to stand by his father and brother, strikingly blond among the two gingers. Lucie frowned at James.

“Are you alright?” She asked, brows furrowing. James looked downcast.

“Yeah, I’m fine. You can tell Matthew I’ll be in the library.” Lucie looked on as her brother quickly made his way up the stairs and disappeared behind the heavy wooden door.

 

Matthew wandered down the familiar hallways of the institute, lost in thought. James had changed so much. Had he changed? Probably. He knew that James was still the same person, but a lot changes in a couple months. Matthew realized that he had passed the library for the fourth time in a row, back-tracking to the large oak doors. He quietly opened one and slipped inside. His heart jumped as he saw James sprawled out on a leather couch, asleep. An open book resting on his chest which rose and fell steadily. He sat down on an adjacent couch. Small snores came from James’s parted lips and Matthew smiled. It made him happy to see James so calm. He slowly removed the book from James’s limp grasp and set it on the table, memorizing the page number for James. He got up and went to the familiar bookshelf with some of his favorites. He recognized one of his favorite titles squeezed in on the top shelf. He reached up, standing on his tiptoes, and slowly inched the book out. He just thought he had it out when two more books came tumbling off the shelf, falling to the ground with two loud thuds. Matthew swore softly under his breath.

“Wha…” Matthew heard a sleepy groan come from the couch and slowly turned around, a sheepish expression on his face.

“Sorry…” He apologized, picking up the books from the ground.

James rubbed his eyes, feeling disoriented from his dream. Matthew had definitely been in it, he just couldn’t remember what the dream had been about. To be fair, Matthew made an appearance in most of his dreams. Matthew walked over and sat on the couch, proceeding to stretch out, laying his head in James’s lap. James smiled.

“So, Cordelia Carstairs huh?” Matthew asked, looking up at James. James sighed, brushing Matthew’s blond locks back absently.

“I don’t even really like her, I just don’t know how to let her down without hurting her and Lucie and making them both hate me.”

“That’s rough,” Matthew winced. For some reason, he was glad to hear that his parabatai didn’t actually have feelings. “Just don’t lie to her or lead her on.”

“It’s a little too late for that,” James admitted.

“What does that mean?” Matthew arched an eyebrow before closing his eyes in pleasure as James touched his hair again.

“We may have kissed.”

“I-You what?” Matthew spluttered, sitting up and turning to face his parabatai. He suddenly felt sick, and couldn’t stop imagining James and Cordelia kissing.

“It was brief,” James felt the need to explain himself, the alarmed look in Matthew’s eyes slightly concerning. He started to explain himself, but Matthew cut him off with a shake of his head.

“I don’t really want to know.” Matthew said tersely, grabbing his book from the coffee table and returning to his position and beginning to read. He felt too guilty to look at James, sure that his normally bright eyes had darkened a shade. The boys fell into a confused silence, trying to sort through their feelings without much success. It was true that they probably needed alone time, but the thought of being separated again was too much for either of them. They only got up once Lucie fetched them for dinner, and even then the strained feeling in both their hearts ruined their appetites.

James strolled into the training room, head down as he wrapped his wrists. When he lifted his head, the sight before him was more than interesting. His sister had Matthew completely pinned to the ground, arms forced behind him in a position that looked extremely uncomfortable.

“Well…” James said, resisting the urge to laugh at Matthew’s expense.

“Hey, Jamie,” Matthew spoke, voice slightly muffled due to half his face being pressed firmly into the mat.

“Morning, big bro,” Lucie said cheerfully.

“Please save me James!” Matthew cried desperately. “Your sister has savagely bound me!”

At that James burst out into laughter.

“Wanna let him go, Luce?” James asked, using her nickname.

“Fine,” Lucie sighed, letting go of Matthew’s wrists. He immediately scrabbled to his feet, rubbing his shoulders.

“Let’s do this again sometime, it was fun.”

Matthew scowled intensely at the back of Lucie’s head as she exited the room.

“Want to spar?” James offered.

“Sure,” Matthew agreed, and they took their stances. James had been training a lot with his father, and was sure that he could beat Matthew. Matthew had been training with his brother in his free time too, though. After a few times circling each other and waiting for the first move to be made, Matthew dove in. James narrowly avoided his swipe, parrying back instantly. Matthew dodged with a wry smile.

“I’ve missed this,” He spoke. James feigned an attack, getting Matthew to dodge, but once his guard was down James grabbed him in a headlock. James grinned triumphantly as Matthew struggled to get free. He tried to ignore the strange pleasure this kind of dominance gave him. He wasn’t that perverted.

“Have you?” James mocked. Matthew relaxed his shoulders, slumping against James’s leg. This tricked James into loosening his grip. Instantly, Matthew slipped out of his hold, spinning away from the exasperated James. He had a smug grin on his face and James just shook his head. Matthew ducked under James’s next attack and swept James’s feet out from under him with one strong leg. James fell gracelessly. Matthew laughed, placing his boot on James’s heaving chest. James took a moment to admire Matthew from this angle, forgetting about escaping for a moment while he caught his breath.

“I have.” Matthew said in a superior tone. James almost snarled, not wanting to give up on the fight yet. He grabbed Matthew’s planted ankle and tugged as hard as he could. The last thing that Matthew saw before he hit the floor was the dangerous glint of James’s gold eyes. James scrambled over Matthew before he could recover from the fall. He planted himself firmly over Matthew’s hips and pinned his wrists to the floor with his hands.

“I think I win,” James said proudly, not yet realizing the compromising position they were in. Matthew smiled, his eyes dancing, and suddenly it felt like someone had stolen all the air from his lungs. Heat rushed to his cheeks. Matthew looked strangely beautiful, sweat glistening on his face, normally flawless hair disheveled. His perfect pink lips were curved up, and James gave a sudden gasp, rolling off of Matthew and laying on the floor beside him. He closed his eyes, but in the darkness existed images of Matthew so he opened them and stared up at the rafters.

“James…” Matthew rasped. He rolled to his side, taking James’s chin gently in his hand and making him look at him. “What is this?”

“I don’t know,” James sounded choked. “I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t…”

“Relax, Jamie, it’s just me,” Matthew said, removing his hand but keeping it lightly placed on James’s arm. James propped himself up with his elbow.

“That’s the problem. You’re not just Matthew anymore, you’re Matthew. And that’s terrifying,” Matthew blinked, trying to process what James was saying. “And I want you as my parabatai but I might want you as… more.”

Matthew suddenly felt a rush of feelings, eyes darting from James’s dark eyes to his pouty lips, and made a rash decision. As soon as their lips connected, a warm feeling spread from both of their parabatai runes, rushing through their bodies. They broke apart, gasping at the new sensation. James made a beautiful noise, a half-groan half-moan, pulling Matthew back down to kiss him again. James threaded his hands into Matthew’s hair and parted his lips slightly, letting Matthew take control of this kiss. Matthew kissed back passionately, loving every moment. Eventually they pulled apart to catch their breath.

“We can’t do this here,” James realized, sitting up suddenly. Matthew rolled off of him with a happy sigh. James stood up, and offered his hand to the dazed Matthew.

“You’re so beautiful,” Matthew said dreamily, staring up at James like he was an angel. James waved his hand around dramatically, but Matthew made no move to take it. “So, your room or mine?” Matthew waggled his eyebrows.

“Take my hand, dumbass!”


End file.
